The president of Panasonic Corp. said Thursday that the electronics giant's restructuring will be completed this fiscal year and be used as a springboard for reaching group sales of ¥10 trillion in fiscal 2018.

"We will position the current business year as the time to prepare growth strategies toward a new Panasonic in 2018," President Kazuhiro Tsuga said at a shareholders' meeting in Osaka.

He said the company will bolster its housing, automotive and other businesses by focusing resources on growth markets.

After posting massive losses for two consecutive years, the giant returned to the black in fiscal 2013 ended in March and will resume dividend payments for the first time since fiscal 2011 on the back of restructuring gains and solid returns from its housing and auto-related businesses.

As part of the restructuring, Panasonic decided to withdraw from the flagging plasma TV business and sell some of its semiconductor plants in central Japan. The moves incurred restructuring costs of ¥207.4 billion in fiscal 2013 and it is planning to book ¥90 billion this business year.

In fiscal 2018, Tsuga said the company will aim to achieve sales of ¥2 trillion each in the housing, automotive and appliance businesses, ¥2.5 trillion in the corporate solutions sector and ¥1.5 trillion in the devices segment.

In the housing sector, it plans to bolster renovation services in Japan and expand operations in Turkey and other countries in the Middle East, he said.

Asked by a shareholder about the fruits of its reform efforts, Tsuga said that divisions in some areas of the company are doing better in communicating with each other and coordinating strategies to increase sales.

He said efforts will be accelerated to relocate its managerial bases to other parts of Asia, including China, India and Southeast Asia.